Sustainable landscapes and gardens

When it comes to sustainable landscape design in Australia, the key messages are to plant appropriately for the varying climates. We look for gardens that are beautiful but also do the job required by providing food, shade, habitat, shelter and respite. Green minded landscapes use less hard surfaces so that they are more permeable. They are planned alongside the house to engage the occupants and work with sight lines. They work best when they are easy to access and draw occupants outside.

Divine Inspiration

Issue 60

The spiritual values of a school in Brisbane’s north are expressed and explored in the redesign of its campus.

Garden Marketing

Issue 60

A strong entrepreneurial streak, a flair for marketing and a swag of high-profile awards and installations is helping Richmond-based landscape designer Phillip Withers expand his horizons beyond city limits.

Provocateur in Portugal

Issue 59

Dr Leyla Acaroglu is in the midst of restoring a small Portuguese farm to create a cultural destination for change-makers.

Sensory Punch

Issue 59

Landscape designer Jenny Kjar is slowly transforming her 40-acre block in the foothills of the Warby Ranges in northeastern Victoria into a tough but playful garden that draws in the surrounding landscape and engages the senses at every turn.

The Family Business

Issue 58

A descendant of two pioneering Western Australian farming families, Lucinda Giblett proves that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

A Shared Ethos

Issue 58

The Little Green Corner in Geelong champions sustainable food options by utilising locally grown produce and running regular educational workshops.

The Deep End

Issue 46

Drew Carling looks back on his first “dry country” job as a landscape architecture graduate – his parents’ then-new seven acre property on the banks of the Murray River, featuring a Glen Murcutt house and a lone black box tree.

Backyard Harvests

Issue 57

Urban Growers are taking small city spaces and turning them into urban-scale farms.

Postage Stamp Oasis

Issue 57

A tiny concrete courtyard in Balaclava that is, technically, half car space, has been transformed into a year-round living room by Acre’s Brett Robinson.